Yesterday, I had a chance to watch South Kitsap graduate Jason
Hammel pitch against the Mariners. He fared well before running
into trouble in the seventh inning of a 6-3 loss.
Here is the feature I wrote on Hammel, who has been a steady
presence on the mound during his first season with the Baltimore
Orioles.

Earlier in the week, I asked Jason Churchill of
ProspectInsider.com — he also is a scouting analyst for ESPN
Insider — to explain Hammel’s turnaround. After all, this is a guy
who looked like an average starting pitcher for six seasons with
Tampa and Colorado before improving his stats across the board this
year.

Here is what Churchill had to say about Hammel:

This year, Hammel clearly has a better plan and it starts with
the use of his fastball. He’s throwing few more curveballs early in
games to keep hitters off balance and to change their eye levels
the first time through the lineup — but the fastball has also
ticked up a bit in velocity by almost a full mph, which is
significant.

The arm side run on his fastball is prevalent; in past years,
that was a straight pitch for Jason and he needed to cross it over
to his glove side — in on a left-handed batter, away from a
right-hander — to get any sink. In 2012, he’s been using run it
back over the outer edge against right-handed hitters early in the
count and ties up lefties with it.

When you can do that down in the zone — something Hammel wasn’t
doing a year ago as he was up in the strike zone regularly in 2011
— the secondary stuff becomes more effective.

Hammel, simply put, is a completely different pitcher. Even the
slider is better this year — after being a flat pitch with little
break and no tilt last year, it’s got bite and he’s keeping it down
consistently.

As a result, he’s getting ahead and is better equipped to put
away hitters when he gets to two strikes. Rather than a full
arsenal with a plus fastball, two fringe breaking balls and below
average everything else, including command, he’s solid-average
across the board to go with the plus fastball.

It’s a bit backwards that he had to come back to the American
League, and in the East, no less, to find success. I would venture
to suggest that he needed a change of scenery, both literally —
getting away from Coors Field where the humidor helps but isn’t a
fix for the thin air and spacious pastures — and into an
environment of consistency in terms of how he can attack
hitters.

Ran across this item, making a comparison between Willie
Bloomquist and the band Pavement, which had a cult following in the 1990s.
Actually, this link discusses the article that makes that comparison.
It’s an interesting argument, as those from Baseball Prospectus
often are. If you’re a Bloomquist fan, you probably won’t enjoy
it.

Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, a South Kitsap grad, was one of 35
unsigned players on the Padres’ 40-man roster who was offered a
contract on Monday. Cunningham hit .178 with three home runs and
nine RBI in 90 at bats a year ago. The 25-year-old outfielder hit
.329 with nine homers and 63 RBI over 384 plate appearances for
Tucson in the Pacific Coast League.
Cunningham has spent parts of four seasons in the majors, with
Oakland in 2008 and ’09, and with San Diego in 2010 and ’11. His
career numbers: .231 with six home runs and 44 RBI in 355 at
bats.

Former South Kitsap High School star Gordy Anderson, who joined
the Washington State football team as a freshman walk-on last
season, has moved from quarterback to tight end.
Anderson, who redshirted last year, was listed as the fifth-string
quarterback on spring practice rosters.

Word is coming out that South Kitsap’s Willie Bloomquist has
signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It has been speculated that Bloomquist’s next contract would come
in the National League to take advantage of his versatility. He
reportedly gets a one-year $1.05 million deal.

Bremerton’s Marvin
Williams sometimes thinks “other people panic more than we do,”
he said of all the negative talk about how the Atlanta Hawks were
done after a 6-0 start. Read the story
here.

Willie
Bloomquist, a free agent, continues to be linked to the
Washington Nationals. Here’s
another story that indicates the Port Orchard native could fit
in as a utility player with the Nats. Bloomquist has also been
mentioned as the kind of player the Mets might be looking for.

This
post on MLB.com suggests South Kitsap grad Aaron Cunningham
could very likely start the season at Triple-A next year despite
playing well for the Padres.

Finally, for the reader who wanted to know about how Central
Kitsap grad Todd Linden fared this year in Japan, here’s
the finals
stats for Tohokou Rakuten Golden Eagles. Linden was injured
early and never did get untracked. He hit .185 and played in just
53 games.

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association hosts its annual
awards banquet on Wednesday at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.
Silverdale’s Randy Corley, once again, is up for announcer of the
year. The man with the smooth, velvet voice has done more to put
the Kitsap Stampede on the map than anyone. Here’s a
full list of nominees. Here’s 10 things you should know about
the Wrangler
National Finals Rodeo, which runs Dec. 2-11 in Vegas. All 10
rounds will be broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN Classic or webcast on
ESPN3.

ALSO

Bree Schaaf of Bremerton
competes in her second World Cup bobsled race of the year on Friday
at Park City, Utah. She’s coming off a sixth-place finish at
Whistler, B.C. … Swimmer Nathan
Adrian of Bremerton will compete in the U.S. Short-Course
Nationals Thursday through Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, and heads to
Dubai for the World Short-Course Championships on Dec.
15-19. The University of California senior established himself
as one of the elite sprinters in the world and should be among the
favorites for a gold medal in 2012 in London in the 50 and 100
freestyle events. … I’ve been told golfer Troy Kelly is
still experiencing some soreness, but is making progress after his
hip replacement surgery. The Central Kitsap grad shot a
64 recently at the Plantation Golf Course in Palm Springs, Calif.
Here’s
some background on Kelly’s surgery, which took place in early
September.

The Oryx Cup, the season-ending unlimited hydroplane race in
Doha, Qatar, is No. 18-20.
The race for the
national high points title will be decided that weekend as
South Kitsap product Dave Villwock and Oh Boy! Oberto driver Steve
David are in a tight battle.